SERBS FOR ONE HOUR SKIRMISH

 

The latest contingent in my Balkan collection: Serbs, circa 1877-78 (and later)

Greetings, dear reader(s).  I am gratified to report on the addition of the Serbs for my One Hour Skirmish Muskets to Rifle variant. For anyone stumbling on this blog for the first time, my focus is on the age of the rifle--post-Napoleonic to pre-automatic weapons. My Balkan focus is on the era roughly from the Russo Turkish War through the Balkan Wars.  As with a good number of others in the collection, these figures are from the Outpost Miniatures Russo-Turkish line: now available at Badger Games in the U.S. 

The Serb "People's Army" uniform of the era--the only difference between this uniform and that of the regulars was the collar (the regulars had a standing collar), so as far as the look on the table, they would be the same. As can be seen, the signature look is brown over blue, with a blue cap--in sources, the blue is variously described as a light or gray blue (per the above right image from Helion and Company From Musket to Maxim, 1815-1914,  #55, The Serbian Army in the Wars for Independence from Turkey 1876-1878). Images of actual surviving uniforms, like the above left, indicate a more robust blue. More on that in a bit...

My contingent consists of three poses plus command (as usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX in this post)...

Serbian Line Firing

I used a wash of black and a drybrush of lighter blue to bring out the details of the cap lines in the sculpts. 

Serbian Line Advancing

I struck a balance between the dark and light blue options by using a mid-blue, Humbrol World War One Blue, for the trousers and caps. I decided to go with black belting rather than brown to add a bit more detail. Speaking of which, on a utilitarian uniform such as this absent any trappings, I add detail by emphasizing the strapping and equipment--first underpainting it in black and then going over it in the respective colors, with an eye towards bringing out points where straps cross  or equipment is nested together, like the water bottles over the haversacks. 

Serbian Line Charging

This sculpt is my favorite in this line: very animated and finely detailed, right down the facial details. 

Serbian Command

Given that One Hour Skirmish is a very low level game, I needed an NCO, so I took the standard bearer and gave him a guidon, something appropriate for a small unit: both he and the musician can serve as NCO leaders as needed.  Of course, since I had him I also worked up the officer.

Figure Comparison

Outpost Serbs next to Outpost Montenegrins.

I have previously posted about the variation in sculpts within the Outpost Russo Turkish line. The Serbs are among the smaller figures: they are "true" 25mm. I would guess that they are from the same artist who sculpted the Montenegrins. 

Three Foot View

The collection as seen at gaming distance (the colors in the picture are a bit washed out). 

The Serbs round out my collection of forces for the Balkans. Most conventionally, they would be put on the table in games against the Ottomans starting with the Russo Turkish War of 1877 and continuing through to the Balkan Wars. However, given the troubled history of the Balkan region and the small scale actions represented in the One Hour Skirmish system, they could be put on the table against just about any of the other contingents in any number of plausible scenarios. The possibilities are nearly endless. 

Excelsior!